The Lullaby
by dewa95
Summary: Everyone is finally settled. Yusuke going between Human and Demon Worlds, Kurama in a University with both Kuwabara and Keiko, Koenma happy about the currrent peace in all the worlds. Hiei comes to Human World with a companion. Two to be exact. His arrival is the start of a new adventure to our gang. Prequel to my other fic "She Watched". Read and Review
1. Chapter 1

**Desclaimer: I don't own yu yu hakusho. I am just a fanfic writer**

**So, hello again everyone. This is the plot I've had for nearly 15 months now.**

**But I haven't had a chance to write.**

**Coming to the story, this is actually the prequel to my other story "She Watched". Hope you like this**

**Chapter 1**

It was raining. The figure on the temple stairs was hurrying with a woman with brown hair and eyes.

"Let's hurry Yusuke!" she said "it's getting colder".

"Chill, Keiko! We both know the real reason you want to hurry. It's because Shorty's here and the gang feels whole again," the male with the jelled back hair stated.

"You got me," she said, "come to think of it why is he here now all of a sudden? Not that I don't want him to be around. Yukina is a lot happier when he is around though. She has been a little down lately. And it's perfect time for him to visit. He hasn't been visiting as much as he did last year from what Yukina's told me. Do you know why, though? I mean you did visit demon world a couple of months ago. Have you seen him around?"

"Nah, Mukuro's kept him completely under wraps for a while now. Kurama's been there and he told me Mukuro didn't allow him to visit either and this was around 5 months ago. Kurama told he was okay, so I didn't question him. His energy felt fine a couple months ago, so I left it there," Yusuke answered as he looked up at how many stairs he had to climb again.

"What about now, you sense anything different?" she asked.

"Nah nothing's wrong with the Shorty's energy, though there are couple of unknown energy signatures aside from his. And since Hiei's brought them around I hope they don't attack us on sight. I also sense Kuwabara and Kurama around as well," Yusuke muttered above the rain pounding.

It was then Keiko brown eyes narrowed in anger and she stopped. What happened next was something all their friends were familiar with. And she spoke in a dangerously low tone. "Are you telling me we're late again? Yusuke !" she yelled at him as she slapped him.

"Hey, what the hell Keiko?" he shouted jumping away from as attempted to slap him again.

"We're late again because of you. We are always late! So fix this," she screeched.

"Okay! Okay! Stop trying to hit me for a second damn it. Geez. Come' ere we'll get there in a second now," he said as he picked her up bridal style and flew up the stairs.

The moment they reached the temple they found Kuwabara and Yukina waiting for them with towels to dry off.

"Took you long, eh Urameshi? Yukina, Kurama and I arrived about half hour ago. And it's nice to see good ol 'Keiko keepin' you in line again," he said with a knowing smirk on his face.

"Oh, yeah. You wanna a piece of me, dumbass," Yusuke said getting ready to kick his best friend's ass.

Keiko who had been patiently ignoring them decided it was time to interfere when she saw Yukina's smile started to look dangerously.

"Kazuma," she said in a dangerous tone that said you'll have hell to pay if you don't listen, "Hiei-san is sleeping right now. I don't know how he managed to stay asleep with all this ruckus the second you get you get loud enough to wake him he'll kill you." This was all said with a sweet little smile on her face but Yusuke saw shivers run up his best friend's back. _Serves him right. And it looks like she has the same dangerous tone as her brother. That's nice to see _he thought as he lost his battle against the laughter that threatened to overwhelm him.

"And also I want him to get as much rest as possible. Genkai-sama told me that he had multiple injuries. I tried to go to his room but his little pet told me he was okay and not to be disturbed. I can only hope he's doing okay in there," she looked extremely concerned as she said this and Yusuke soon sobered up. Kuwabara kept his mouth shut too. "Well let's get you inside now, wouldn't want you to catch cold now."

"Wait, did you say pet?" Yusuke said as his mind caught up with the first half of her sentence that contained a pet. But the others ignored him. "Come on guys, you can't just ignore me," he pouted.

* * *

><p>After walking down the hallway of Genkai's large temple they finally reached the living room which currently housed the above said woman and Kurama who were both drinking their tea quietly. The rain seemed to be pounding outside now and the lightning flashing through the sky was giving an ominous effect to the room.<p>

"Been a while, dimwit!" Genkai said as she promptly kicked Yusuke in the back of his head. "What was that for, you old hag?" Yusuke yelled as he began rubbing the back of his head.

"That was for making such huge amounts of noise on your way up especially when I told you to be as quiet as possible. It's a wonder Hiei's still asleep and I would like to keep it that way. He was tired enough as it is from all those injuries and those migraines he seemed to be having. And Mukuro who personally escorted him here told me to let him and his companions wake up on their own and not to disturb their sleep. So I'm just being a gracious host," Genkai said sipping her tea.

"Don't tell me you're scared-," Yusuke began only to be cut-off by Kurama who said "_Companions_? I'dlike to know more about them."

"One is a demon cat who is extremely hell-bent on protecting its' master, though I don't know why our recluse demon friend would need a protector. Though I think it is more for the other companion," she answered in a fairly raspy voice, "And don't think about asking me about his other companion."

"Why is that?" Kuwabara asked, his first words since entering the room.

"Why? Because an old woman has to have her entertainment and I am not interested in the least bit in Hiei's business," she replied.

Everyone in the room sweat-dropped at that.

"Please, Master Genkai. Don't tell me you don't find this interesting. Hiei disappears for 6 months and visits all of a sudden injured with a demon-cat and a companion that is unknown to us. Mukuro herself has escorted him. And this isn't interesting, you say? So you don't have ro say anything about this unknown person at all," Kurama asked. Yusuke and the others sat back and watched as they knew Kurama would get some answers from the Great Spirit master. And they weren't surprised when she gave up a little bit of information to keep their curiosity satisfied and their minds to speculating.

"No, I don't have anything to say about her," she said drinking her tea. They knew it was the last piece of information she'd divulge, so Yusuke decided to open his mouth.

"So it's a she, is it?" he said wagging his eyebrows at her and his eyes flashed with amusement as he saw Keiko's face grow beet red.

"Yusuke! Get your mind out of the gutter, you idiot," Keiko yelled smacking him again.

"Ow, Keiko that hurt," Yusuke grumbled and he was satisfied.

* * *

><p>Kurama who had been watching all this was very close to losing his battle against his laughter as most of the others had burst out laughing instantly. But thinking back to the situation at hand he sobered up instantly. He thought back to what happened 5 months ago when he went to visit Hiei instead of the way around.<p>

(flashback begin)

_He had been walking down the path leading to Mukuro's giant bug castle. It had been nearly 7 months since he visited demon world, so he decided to take the scenic route to his destination._

_The main reason for his travel was because Hiei hadn't visited him for the sparring match a month ago and the things that happened during that month. And his short friend's continued absence didn't worry him slightest. His friend could take care of himself if anything did happen. After all his friend was one of the strongest and most feared demons of the Demon Realm what with him being an S-class and the heir to the current Lord of Alaric. But a few days after their supposed spar he heard from the Prince of the Spirit World, Koenma telling him that there were unusual energy spurts and releases that came specifically from Alaric and he also heard from Yomi that the unusual energy had been getting stronger and stronger. So he decided to investigate and meet with his friend. _Two birds with one stone_ as they said._

_He had reached the beginning of Mukuro's territory when the former demon lord herself decided to receive him._

"_Mukuro, I am not here as a threat. I just came here to investigate on the increased energy levels and demon activity in your area. Koenma sent me. Although I know he doesn't have any authority here in demon world, he sent me to make sure nothing happened. And there is also my reason of visiting Hiei that brought me here," he said turning around to look straight Mukuro's one good eye. _

_But Mukuro was already shaking her head by the time he finished his monologue. _

"_Kurama, the princes' concern for the increasing energy spurts is unneeded. We have already contained the situation. So there is no need to investigate. As for Hiei, he's completely occupied at the moment. He is dealing with the demon causing these strange outbursts. He cannot leave his post anytime soon until that demon is contained," she answered. Her tone seemed genuine enough and yet there was something in her eye that made him suspicious of her. And just like someone of her intelligence level she read the distrust instantly and her next statement confirmed it._

"_There really is nothing to worry about Kurama. Hiei is in the middle of a deep meditation that is helping him cope against the beast. He is using his Jagan to subdue the demon but it is taking a lot of effort so he decided to unite their minds and slip into meditation to subdue it a lot more effectively," she said._

_Although this too seemed genuine she had an odd glint in her eyes whenever she talked about the beast. Kurama decided to store that tidbit for later and said rather than asked, "So there is no way I can meet him right now."_

_He eyed her for one more second before turned halfway around so she could only see half of his face and continued, "Let us drop the façade Mukuro. Tell me everything. I can't feel much of Hiei's energy and the beast's energy is so overwhelming that I'm surprised half the people here are still alive. And you're telling me that Hiei is subduing the beast when he has barely any power left. So I'd like to know the truth now."_

_Mukuro's eyes had narrowed at that and continued staring at him for a moment before she said, "I am telling you the truth Kurama. Hiei is extremely busy as of now and will continue to be for another month or so. And that's all I can say. I can't allow anyone to pass right now. And you're right about the beast's energy being overwhelming which is one of the exact reasons why I have sent many of my lower level demons to go guard the borders so they don't get caught in the crossfire if you know what I mean. But don't worry about Hiei. He's relatively unha-" _

_Mukuro's statement got cut-off as we both felt a extremely powerful aura engulf them._

_Shivers went down Kurama's spine the second he felt that energy. There were beads of sweat running down his face and back instantly. Mukuro's face turned pale and soon we were enclosed in an extremely powerful barrier Mukuro herself had created._

"_Hiei," he whispered in an anxious tone. _

"_Hiei is safe Kurama. Don't worry. The only thing we need to be concerned for now are ourselves," Mukuro reassured in a rather clipped tone and then continued, "and don't give me that look Hiei is absolutely safe." _

_Kurama trusted her word on Hiei's safety and their own inside Mukuro's barrier at the moment. So Kurama asked the one question that had been on the forefront of his mind "What is that energy Mukuro? This energy… it has even you worried." _

_Just then the energy of the beast flared again stronger than before._

_Kurama never knew that Mukuro's face could get any paler than before but it had. And soon his host began speaking in a quiet, hurried tone "Please leave Kurama. I can't answer anymore of your questions. I have other things to attend to-"_

"_But Mukuro-" Kurama tried to cut her off only to be cut-off by ht said person again._

"_You don't understand," she yelled, "Get. Out. Of. Here right now. Tell Koenma that everything will be back to normal within another month. If you don't listen to me now I will kill you right here, right now. Please leave," she said forcefully._

_Kurama knew not to push the lord and he also knew that he wouldn't get any more answers. So he turned around and decided to walk away. But the second he turned around he felt Mukuro's energy slip away._

(End Flashback)

He couldn't do anything after she slipped away and prayed to the Gods that whatever she said was true. So he came back to the Human Realm. He told Koenma everything that happened. From meeting Mukuro to the energy blasts everything. Every single one of them was used to the peace that engulfed the three worlds. It had been a while since Koenma had sked any of them for their help in a serious mission. So they were easily used to the peace. Kurama who had worked in his step-father's company decided that he wanted to study botany in college. His human family was not going to die anytime soon so he thought he might as well enjoy his stay here in human world doing something he loved. Both his mother and step-father were supportive of that. So he'd started university with Keiko and Kuwabara.

In truth they'd all gotten used to the peace. There were profound changes in the Demon World too. Especially in the demon lords. Enki had decided not to take their lands away. Even Yomi decided that he'd just sit back and watch Shura grow and get better in fighting. Mukuro had lost her blood lust and had decided to patrol the borders of demon world the ruler notwithstanding and rule over her lands. It had been long decided that both Mukuro and Yomi were not going to participate in the next tournaments. Even Yusuke was starting to get comfortable in the peace. That was the reason why Koenma was so worried. Peace was finally coming to be true as most A-class and B-class demons were staying on their side. Only C and D class demons were moving around but they were soon exterminated either by Yusuke or Kurama himself if they'd attacked any humans. But with these strange outbursts Koenma feared another rise in evil which was the reason why decided to go to tell Kurama in the first place hoping that the fox would do something to alleviate his fears.

But Kurama himself was not in the mood to get over the peace so he'd waited a month just like Mukuro asked. And a month later the energy that had been rocking the spirit world monitors disappeared just as Mukuro said they would. Koenma was happy that the energy was finally gone. But Kurama had another concern as the time passed. Hiei was still gone. And he'd appeared now. In one of Genkai's rooms, resting.

The weird thing was that neither Yusuke nor Yomi had felt that great energy that rocked the spirit world. He felt that Mukuro had somehow restricted that energy. Mukuro went through a whole lot of trouble so he decided not to mention it either Yusuke or Yomi.

Everyone had somehow occupied themselves in doing various things the whole time he had been lost in his thoughts. It was extremely rare for him to space off. No one disturbed him and he was grateful for that.

Yusuke noticed him first and said, "Glad to have ya back, fox-boy and do pray tell where your mind drifted off." Yusuke who was now playing video games playing against Kuwabara put the game on pause when he noticed Kuwabara was also paying attention to Kurama instead of the game in front of him.

Kurama immediately knew Yukina and Keiko were in the kitchen preparing snacks from what his nose was telling him. And Genkai was sitting seemingly in a trance and no one dared to disturb her.

"I was thinking about the I went to visit Hiei and got booted off her property," Kurama said, "I wonder why Mukuro put him in isolation for nearly 6 months and then decidedly escorted him to the Human world herself."

"Yeah, it is quite strange. But we just have to hope Hiei doesn't keep any secrets and would actually tell us what's actually been happening," Yusuke muttered as he laid on his back with his arms pillowing his head.

Kuwabara who didn't like how serious the conversation became decided to speak up and said, "You know what Urameshi, I'm getting bored of video games."

"What do you propose we do, Kuwabara ?" Kurama asked.

"I know. Let's wake the shorty up," Yusuke proposed.

Kurama sighed shaking his head and said, "We shouldn't do that Yusuke-" , only to be cut-off by Kuwabara who yelled, "Let's do that Urameshi" and they were both off.

"Shouldn't we stop them, Master Genkai? After all Hiei's energy is extremely concentrated in that room. Anyone who enters that room now will end up getting instant third-degree burns, even someone like Yusuke and Kumabara," Kurama asked looking worriedly at the door.

"Then it's their fault, Kurama. They are being stupid. They should know when to disturb a person and when not to just by feeling their energy. It's their fault for not reading Hiei's energy properly," she replied looking just as placid as always

"But the main concern I have now is why Hiei's energy has taken such a defensive note. His survival instincts have gone through the roof. The only time Hiei's ever told me about his instincts working this way was when he was a child living in the Demon Realm. After a while he told me that he had just trained his body to wake up at the slightest noise. He told he had to do it so that he wouldn't destroy everything that touched him. He told me that when he let his instincts do the job he just attracted too much attention and he couldn't keep a low profile. He trusts us Master Genkai. I know that because he's fallen asleep in our presence for hours together even when we make the worst kind of noise and never did his instincts take over. But now feeling his energy I can only say that whatever happened in the Demon World must be really terrifying," Kurama pondered out loud.

"You may be right, Kurama. But you haven't noticed how his energy is hovering. Close your eyes and do it, you may learn something useful," she said gruffly.

He closed his eyes and humored her request. What he noticed was something he hadn't felt before. Hiei's other companion wasn't there. His eyes snapped open. He continued to feel. _That's not true. _Her_ energy is masked, _he thought to himself. His eyes widened when put two and two together.

"Hiei is actually using his own energy to mask his companion's and what's more is that his energy is hovering over hers rather protective-" he got cut-off as the door to the living room burst open and Yusuke and his co-conspirator were standing there looking absolutely mesmerized.

"What happened, Dimwit?" Genkai asked looking up calmly at her student "I thought you were about to 'wake the Shorty up'." Yusuke instantly sobered and Kuwabara followed him soon enough.

"Nothing happened, Grandma," Yusuke grumbled and Kuwabara nodded, "and we thought not to wake him up and don't give me that look Grandma. Hiei's little pet told us not to disturb him and we noticed how thick his energy was inside room and decided not to intrude. The damn cat is telepathic you know."

With that both the 19 year olds went back to playing video games. Kurama couldn't help but notice that Yusuke's voice had a defensive edge. And that was when Keiko and Yukina came in carrying some snacks for all of them. Kuwabara couldn't be happier to see 'his love' and it was made pretty apparent by his next comment, "Yukina, my love! Thanks for the food. Let me help you." He said as he jumped up ignoring the game and helping her and Keiko set up on the table. And soon everyone was sitting back and enjoying the snacks.

"Looks like we'll need more. I'll go get some," Yukina said as she stood up and Kuwabara stood up to volunteer. But he didn't get far as he froze the second Yukina exited the door. And they all stiffened as they felt Hiei moving to where they were situated.

"What's wrong, Yusuke?" Keiko asked.

It wasn't Yusuke who answered her question however, it was Genkai.

"Hiei and his companions are making their way over."

"Anyone bet on the Shrimp's size. I say he's as shrimpy as ever. Haha," Kuwabara said softly so as not to let Hiei hear. Kurama knew Kuwbara had been worried about Hiei because that was the exact same thing a person like him would say when they were likely covering up their worry.

However Kurama was the only one to hear Genkai say, "You'd be surprised, Dimwit," calmly with a small smirk on her face. And Kurama was left to ponder Genkai's words

And soon they heard Yukina talking rather excitedly to Hiei and they heard quiet voice answering her excited questions.

Soon Yukina was stepping into the room saying, "Look whose finally awake guys! Hiei-san, please come in and you should come in too guys."

They could only guess that the last statement was meant for his companions.

So they all waited with bated breath for the few seconds it took for Hiei to step in to the room. The second all their eyes landed on Hiei and his companions though, their eyes widened and their jaws hit the ground. And Genkai's smirk grew bigger.

**That's the end of first chapter. Let me know if you like it. **

**And before I forget I am a student at a Uni in India studying computer science so I'm usually a bit busy. I may not be able to update very often as some other fics I read by my fellow ff writers. But I'll try to update once every couple of weeks. If you want me to continue that is. That's it for now.**

**Bye**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello. I'm back with the second chapter. This chapter will be mainly in Kurama's POV but most of the future chapters will be in Hiei's P.O.V. Before you read it though I've taken a lot of liberties with Hiei's characterization. And I I'll try to keep him as in-character I can. So hope you don't mind.**

**And I don't own yu yu hakusho. Just the ****oc****'s you all will meet.**

**Let's start now.**

_Soon Yukina was stepping into the room saying, "Look whose finally awake guys! Hiei-san, please come in and you should come in too guys."_

_They could only guess the last statement was meant for his companions._

_So they all waited with bated breath for the few seconds it took Hiei to step in to the room. The second all their eyes landed on Hiei and his companions though, their eyes widened and their jaws hit the ground and Genkai's smirk grew bigger._

Because the Hiei that was standing before was not the Hiei they knew at all. Because the Hiei they knew had now grown over a foot putting him closer to Kuwabara's height than anyone in the gang. What was also shocking was that the hair that actually made Hiei look a couple of inches taller was now hanging flat and close to waist length with a long white fore-lock on his left shoulder. He was surprised that someone could change so drastically in a span of six to seven months.

It was not as surprising though now that he thought about. Yukina had grown too. She now stood at a good height of nearly five foot seven. He could, however tell that he was the only one who made a connection between Yukina's and Hiei's overlapping growth spurts at the moment other than Genkai as she had time to think about it. So he had been the first to snap out of his shock and stood up to greet him.

"Hello Hiei. It's been awhile old friend," he said going to him. The others slowly seemed to get out of their stupor now as they too stood warily trying to get their mouths to speak.

And Yusuke with his ever big mouth yelled, "Man Hiei. You grew. This isn't fair. I am now officially the shortest on the team-".

He stopped abruptly however as one of Hiei's companions gave a low growl. The growl was a warning to stay back and Yusuke who knew more about Demons sure did just that. Hiei simply looked down at her. He then went onto survey each and every single person present in the room. He then walked past all of them to the other side where there was another wooden door that could lead them out. All the while his 2 companions watched-one with curiosity and the other with a harsh scowl. They walked up to where he was or should he say one walked while the other lazily walked up to them on four legs. _So this was the demon-cat Yusuke spoke about_ _earlier_ Kurama thought. He then focused his attention on the other companion.

The one with the scowl was the one he turned to next. The one who evidently turned out to be small demon child with blood-red locks and blue eyes-an extremely odd combination. It was this small female demon child all their attention turned to. Kuwabara was about to say something when Yukina nudged him to keep quiet and he acquiesced. Their attention shifted back to Hiei when he opened that wooden door and nudged the child out.

He knelt beside her and said, "When we came here yesterday, I told you I would let you go out on your own to let all those pent-up emotions out. I told you I would let you think things through. I will keep my word to you. . The weather here is so much better than the Demon world's now, isn't it? It feels like it's raining just for you." He looked out into the rain and continued, "I want you back within two hours. But that's it. If you are not back within 2 and half hours, I will come out there and drag you back here without an ounce of regret. You understand that right. I just want to keep you safe. So _please _take RaRa with you."

The affection and tender care they heard surprised all of them. Kurama wasn't even sure anyone had heard Hiei speak so long before the gentle tone notwithstanding. But before they could think about anything the child moved away from him into the woods. Hiei then glanced down at the cat at his feet and said, "Go with her. Keep her safe. Contact me if anything drastic happens. This forest is full of low level apparitions. If any of them turn out to be stronger than you could handle I want you to contact me. So go"-the cat rolled her eyes at this as if to say of course you idiot. He chuckled at that.

The cat suddenly jumped up onto his shoulder put it's paw on Hiei's temple. There was a soft glow that often accompanied healing energy. It stopped a second later and the cat vanished from his shoulder into the rain after that mysterious child who made Hiei say the word _please_.

Hiei smiled softly at that cat's action. It was then that Kuwabara said, "What the hell just happened. Did Hiei send a child into the Genkai's forest? Did I just see a cat put a healing paw on Hiei's head, a small demon child accompanying Hiei and-"

Kuwabara was cut off by Hiei who had his sword out and pressed against Kuwabara's neck who immediately yelped. He spoke, "You're voice is irritating me Human. So shut up. I have enough of a headache without it"- in a tone that contained none of his previous affection or tenderness. It contained the cold edge they were all used to. Hiei took his sword away when Kuwabara gulped again.

"And don't look at me like you expect me to have the same amount of kindness towards you. You're not getting it," he said as he slowly slid to the ground against the wall.

"And here I thought you were getting nicer Hiei you're still the same bastard as always I see," Yusuke said smiling at him, "Mind tellin' us how you got those injuries. And what's this about Mukuro escorting you around. Don't tell me Mukuro has to travel around with you to reach here safely?"

Kurama actually wanted to know the answer to that himself. He had simply put the thought away for further analysis later. "I do actually," Hiei said, "I'm staying here for a couple of months. That's all you need to know. I'm not dragging any of you into this."

"Hiei we don't consider it a burden to help our friend when he's in trou-" Kurama started but Hiei soon cut him out saying, "This is something I have to do. Don't even bother arguing. All I need right now is some quiet and rest to regain all my lost energy." He had his eyes closed as he said all this.

"Hey Shrimp. Why can't you be a little grateful and accept our help? You are here right. Might as well ask for help anyway and what the hell happened to your hair?" Kuwabara said. They didn't receive an answer.

S

oon they all noticed that Hiei had fallen asleep again.

It was at this moment every one of them eyed Hiei closely. He had scrapes, cuts and bruises _everywhere._ There were bandages covering the worst of them. He was wearing a black cut-off shirt through which a peek could be taken of all the bandages and grey pants. His eyes had dark bags underneath them as if he hadn't slept properly for days.

It was then that they also noticed that Hiei was relatively tense even in his sleep which wasn't usually the case when he was as exhausted as he seemed now. It was almost as if he were in pain. Yukina seemed to have the same thought as Kurama did because she was soon at his side -ignoring Kuwabara telling her how angry the fire demon could get-and nudged him into a laying position placing his head into her lap. She then placed her healing hands on Hiei's injuries.

"Yukina! You don't understand. Hiei gets extremely pissed when he is woken up. The Shrimp is extremely dangerous even when he is asleep," Kuwabara muttered again.

"You don't understand, Kazuma. Hiei-san is like a brother to me. I cannot stand to see him in pain. It's like you watching Shizuru hurt without being able to help her," she said looking into Kuwabara's eyes pleadingly, " and besides Hiei-san won't hurt me. I know him well enough to know that."

Kuwabara watched on worriedly as she continued to heal Hiei whose only response was to relax slightly in her arms. _There is no tension in Hiei's body now as he lays content in his sister's arms _Kurama thought as he watched the content look in Yukina's eye as she slipped her hands into Hiei hair and started running her hands through those raven locks. It seems he wasn't the only one to recognize the content look in her as both Genkai and Yusuke both let small smiles slip over their faces after watching them.

Keiko slowly rose up and walked to Yukina's side and watched Hiei while he slept. She then said, "You never know that the most fearsome person in the world would look so adorable in his sleep."

"Wait! Keiko! Are you saying I'm not adorable? I'm wounded, Keiko truly wounded," Yusuke said as he watched Keiko with mock-anger in his eyes.

"You know Yusuke you are the most adorable person in the world otherwise you wouldn't have Puu who is the most adorable Spirit Beast ever you know," she said easily seeing through Yusuke's antics. They watched as Yusuke's face which lit up under her words, soon fall with mock hurt and he started pouting which caused everyone in the room to laugh.

Time seemed to pass to Kurama as their topic of interest moved Yusuke's adorableness to their college and their daily lives. Both Yukina and Yusuke seemed to be completely immersed in what they were hearing. An hour had passed and Hiei still hadn't woken up. But soon they all saw Hiei tense up in Yukina's arms. He pushed her away gently still in his sleep and curled up into a fetal postion with his arms holding his head as terrible pain seemed to wrack through him.

"Hiei-san!" Yukina said as she watched. The others were making similar exclamations but it was all to no avail. They couldn't wake him. Yukina reached forward to heal him but Genkai stopped her holding her arm not letting her touch him.

"Do not make the mistake of touching him Yukina. This is not something that can be healed. The only cure to the pain that is engulfing is the demon-cat that went along with the child. The child herself is also helpful. We cannot help him. Mukuro warned me expressly not to touch him when he gets like this," Genkai said releasing Yukina's arm with sympathy in her eyes.

"But, Genkai-sama! What can we do? He seems to be in too much pain. Is there nothing we can do at all?" she asked tears starting to gather in her eyes. Some turned into the precious stone right away.

"I'm sorry Yukina. We'll just have to wait. Mukuro told me she tried to do the same thing you want to do right now. What happened had scarred her to life no pun intended of course," Genkai said looking at Hiei rather warily.

Hiei was curled tightly into a ball. His face a grimace, his eyes clenched shut and his body shaking in …pure fear? Kurama thought.

_What could he possibly be undergoing to make him look like that and what had Mukuro seen from the nightmare to scar her mind for life considering what she has done in the past?_ Kurama thought as he watched Hiei whose body was covered in cold sweat now.

"Yukina, Genkai is right. Hiei has a Jagan. The Jagan usually wakes him up before he starts experiencing a nightmare. It takes that nightmare away and allows him to sleep peacefully. If Hiei is having one, it could only mean that the Jagan wants him to experience it, meaning it would usually help him in the future. If you disturb the Jagan now it will make you go through it. And that's not a good idea considering the fact that that nightmare is actually making Hiei one of most fearless guys I know react like this," Kurama said, " we should wait for his companions to come back."

They watched as Hiei continued to shake in the throes of the nightmare. About 5 to ten minutes later which seemed like hours to everyone present in the room, the door opened and in came Hiei's two companions drenched in the rain.

"Hiei-sama!" The girl exclaimed as she ran to him and put her tiny arms on the fire-demon's head. Healing energy burst from her fingers as Hiei's other companion, the demon cat RaRa too placed her paws on Hiei's forehead helping the child heal him.

"Why is it that they can heal him, when we can't?" Kuwabara asked.

"I can because my family has served the fire-demons' for many generations. We are quite compatible with them when compared to the other tribes of the demon world. We also know how to handle their rage well and can protect ourselves. After all fire demons especially this brat's tribe is known for easily raging," the demon-cat said.

It was quite a surprise to hear the cat speak in a soft feminine tone. A tone that enchanted all of them.

"This brat here can heal him because Hiei has taken her in. He claimed himself as her protector. So it would be weird _if _she couldn't heal him," the cat named RaRa continued.

"What did you mean when you said 'my family has served fire demons for many generations'?" Yukina asked, "So you know about Hiei-san's family?"

"I do young ice-maiden. I cannot give you any specifics as I don't have the time or the energy to discuss this idiot's family with you although I can assure that this brat and his father were one of one strongest and the noblest to have lived in that bunch," RaRa said, "that's enough Brat. Leave him to me. Go dry yourself off. We don't want this idiot here to bust a vein when he wakes up to find you with that expression on your face"

Kurama watched as both Yusuke and Kuwabara started bombarding RaRa with questions and he also saw the cat getting irritated.

"But.. but Hiei-sama!" the child whispered, "it's all my fault. I have been the one causing him this undue stress it .…it – I," she stuttered as the girl who'd been scowling at the fire demon was gone and in her place was this sweet little child who was crying- big fat tears rolling down her cheeks.

RaRa then turned her face to the child and said, "This is not the time to break down Yukari,"-the girl flinched as RaRa called her by the name-"if you cry right now, Hiei is gonna wake up hurting even more than he is now. You know how sensitive he is to your moods. So either sit still and stop crying or get out! I wouldn't say such cruel things to you but I need to concentrate and that is not with these two idiots around asking me questions. I will say this once either be quiet or get out. I will answer all your questions later regardless of this idiot's permission. Now out!"

That seemed to placate everyone but the girl who was still crying softly. Keiko went to the kid and said, "Come lets go. RaRa will get your Hiei-sama well in no time. Lets get you into some dry clothes and take care of you. I am pretty sure Hiei would never forgive us for not taking care of you. Come child, let's go."

Yukina went to her, gently picked the child up and said, "Hiei is like a brother to me sweet child. I can't stand seeing you cry like that. Come on lets go. You did bring some spare clothes right?" The child nodded at that. With that the girls walked away and the guys with Genkai stepped into the other room.

"Man! Here I thought anyone who'd call Hiei an idiot would end up dead. Here that damn cat pretty much calls him an idiot every time she gets the chance to talk about him. I wanna call him an idiot too," Kuwabara griped.

"I don't think Hiei would let you call him that Kuwabara. It seems as if he barely tolerates RaRa calling him that. Although I for one am rather curious about that cat and that child," Kurama added.

"Will Hiei be okay with that cat though? I mean the cat did seem rather psychotic," Yusuke said.

"He'll be fine, Dimwit. It's Hiei you are talking about," Genkai muttered.

They all stayed quiet for a while mulling the situation over in their heads when Kuwabara broke it once again.

"It does seem strange that the Shrimp adopted the child though. That's pretty much what it meant, right? I mean I always thought it would be either Urameshi or me who'd be the first," he said solemnly, " I mean I never pegged him for the type to like children."

"Yeah Hiei sure loves to surprise us huh," Yusuke added as he laid back.

"What type do you peg him for Kurama? Is he the loving protective type or the cold detached type who loves his kid from afar?" Kuwabara asked with a frown on his face.

"Why don't we ask the kid when comes in?" Kurama said and they soon heard the girls coming back in.

They all had somber expressions on their faces and the others immediately knew something happened but kept their mouths shut since both Yukina and Keiko had shook their heads asking them silently not to say anything. The child looked calmer though she still had that heartbroken expression her face. Time passed quickly turning second into minutes and minutes into hours. But they all stayed like that sitting lost in their own thoughts.

Yukina soon brought dinner she prepared that afternoon at the Kuwabara residence. The child slowly ate the food she was served. Tears sprung into her eyes.

Everyone noticed but Yukina was the one who made the leap and asked her what was wrong

"This is the first time I'm eating a meal without Hiei-sama ever since he's found me. He fed me, clothed me and protected me and all I've ever done for him is cause him so much undue stress. I'm so ungrateful," she whispered. They all sat back feeling the weight of her words for a second.

"What did Keiko tell you Yuka-chan-" Yukina said only to be cut-off by Yusuke.

"Nah, you're not ungrateful kiddo." After that statement though he didn't make a single statement to justify it. He seemed lost in a faraway memory.

Kurama took up the lead and said, "I think this answers your question Kuwabara. Let me tell you something about Hiei, child. Hiei is the one of the most cutthroat person out there. He doesn't take stress from anyone. There are a lot of people I know who would be pretty stressed and scared at the mention of his very name, even before he joined the our detective team 4 years ago. He was well known in the Demon World for being downright ruthless. Hiei would never willingly stress himself for another person and the fact that he is stressing over you proves how close you are to his heart. Hiei's voice would never have the tenderness it had towards you. But that's the kind of guy we need him to be. His view gives us all new perspective to a situation although it is usually disguised under heavily sarcastic words. He just wants to protect you and your innocence because Demon World makes you literally bleed all your innocence away."

The child watched Kurama with a silent awe-struck expression on her face as she absorbed all the things the Fox said. She slowly nodded.

"You feel better now?" Kurama said.

She nodded her head and continued to eat her food silently.

A few minutes of silence followed. The door to the room opened revealing an exhausted looking demon-cat.

"I'm sorry Kiddo. I shouldn't have yelled at you. Hiei is resting now before you ask me. I took him back to the room from yesterday. And guess what he was awake for a few moments and he told me to tell you that he wants to train with you tomorrow. I don't even how he's planning to train you when he has so little energy but let's see," RaRa said.

The second she heard the words, her eyes lit up and a smile spread through her face which transformed the child into a sweet little angel. Apparently the kind that could even melt the hearts of stone hearted fire-demons. They were now beginning to understand perfectly why even Hiei would swear to protect her. They were all beginning to feel the same. And Kurama was the only one to have not missed the energy comment.

"Now feed me!" the cat ordered and Yuka-chan was only too happy to feed her.

After the food was done, RaRa turned to the others and said, "I haven't forgotten my promise to you. I'll do it tomorrow when these two are out and about training."

With that the demon-cat and the mysterious child they knew nothing walked out leaving the old friends some time to themselves.

The others too had decided it was time to retire for the night and soon left to their rooms in Genkai's temple. Since the University closed for the summer they had all decided to stay at the temple as their families left them to their devices.

Everyone was soon sound asleep except Kurama. He had many things running in his mind that didn't allow to rest. Things like what he had sensed around the child._ Those things could wait though_, he thought to himself. The cat itself was a mystery. But the most important thing that nagged at him was how low Hiei's energy was. Hiei was an S-class demon but his energy as it was now barely touched the upper B-class. But that was also to be expected considering the fact Hiei just came out of his growth spurt. No, that was not it. Because the more power you have the less time you'd have to spend growing. Kurama himself had been a lower A-class before reaching his growth spurt and the whole thing had ended in 5 months. But the down-side to this was that his power level had dropped from lower A to an upper C. But what was worrying was that Hiei had come out his 4 months ago and had yet not completely regained his power. Kurama had regained it in a month. The more powerful you are the quicker you regain your power. But Hiei had a long way before he'd regained it completely. Usually this wouldn't be worrying as many in the demon world never dared to attack the fire-demon. But now with the responsibility of the child and the injuries he'd gained in the process were worrying him he finally thought Mukuro had done the right thing to take him away from the Demon World. He would at least be safe here while attempting to get his strength back.

With these thoughts Kurama fell asleep hoping to get all the answers from the talking cat tomorrow.

**That's it for this chapter folks. **

**If you really want more of this, review follow or fav it.**

**I get a lot of motivation just by reading the reviews or knowing is following the story. **

**Ok! Now that the marketing is done tell me how do you feel about Hiei's new appearance. And I really do think that Hiei can grow a lot taller than he was in the manga/ anime because both Yukina and Hiei hadn't reached their 100 th birthdays according to Hiei's profile in wikia.**

**So let me know how you feel **

**Byee!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey! I am back. Ok. First and foremost I thank all the guest reviewers. Hope you all had accounts then I could thank you all properly. Anyway thank you all for reading my story and I hope you continue reading it. **

**I am sorry for all the grammatical errors and spelling errors everyone. I just wanted to post a chapter quickly before some tests come up my way. I didn't edit the chapter properly and there are no excuses for that. it won't happen again. I swear. Happy reading**

The next morning Yukina was up early as she usually was whenever the gang stayed over at Genkai's place. She liked to help the old lady and her students as much as she could considering all the things they had done for her. She liked to feed them all. Delicious mouth-watering food was one of the only ways she could pay them back with. She liked to cook anyway especially if those people contained her Kazuma and Hiei.

Her Kazuma! She thought. Ever since her sudden growth, she began to understand all the feelings Kazuma had for her. She could barely contain herself from reciprocating. But she had to wait for a while. In the Land of the Ice Maidens- the Floating Island- women were rarely allowed to leave the village especially near their hundred years mark. That was mainly because the hormones they felt gave them an illusion about others around them thus easily luring them into people's traps. But that only lasted for a year. She knew that the present feelings she had for Kazuma were simply a product of those hormones. Kazuma didn't deserve those false feelings. He deserved nothing more than her whole- hearted love. So she would wait until that time. Her thoughts then went to _him _and all the things that happened yesterday. She thought of how the child. She didn't trust the child despite her instincts telling her to cherish the red-eyed angel of a demon.

Thoughts of the child from yesterday were the only thing that woke her up that day. She had heard that _he _was taking her training and so she knew she should make them breakfast early in the morning so they wouldn't train on an empty stomach. That would also give her the time to see _him _the first thing in the morning.

Most of the breakfast had been prepared during these musings. She'd become so lost in these thoughts that she'd never noticed Hiei and Yuka–chan coming into the kitchen to get some food before they'd leave for the rest of the whole morning.

"Ahh… Hiei-san! Good Morning! Good morning to you too Yuka-chan and RaRa-san. Did you three sleep well?" she'd asked as soon as she'd noticed them. The child happily nodded though she seemed a little sleepy while Hiei grunted. _He seems better_ she thought

"Yukina! You didn't have to go through the trouble to make us food so early. We would have managed," RaRa said and continued, "and that was the most restful sleep we'd gotten in a while. So thank you for asking."

"It's okay RaRa-san, I'd like to spoil everyone with this food as well so it isn't any trouble. Are you going with them too RaRa-san and please sit down! I'll serve the food in a minute," she said as she started to pile the food in the plates for them.

Yukina felt Hiei watching her as she set the food down for them to eat. He nudged the child before she ate her first bite and nodded into Yukina's direction. The child's eyes went wide as she looked at Hiei with something akin to horror in her eyes while Hiei's danced with amusement at her actions.

She stood up suddenly and bowed to her saying, "Thank you for the food Yukina-san and I'm extremely sorry for not thanking you properly yesterday. It was extremely inappropriate of me-" Yukina's eyes went wide as she heard this and she quickly cut the child off saying, "That's fine Yuka-chan. It's not your fault. We were all lost in our thoughts yesterday. So don't worry about it. It's okay."

She leaned her forehead into the child's nuzzling her nose with hers as she said this. The child blushed and the other two in the room chuckled at that.

It was nice to hear Hiei chuckle. This was one of the rare occasions she'd heard him laugh. So she committed the sound to her memory. She watched Hiei trying to get his hair to co-operate.

Yukina giggled softly moving behind him, batting his hands away she took the long raven locks into her hands before she started running her fingers through them. "Seriously Hiei-san, if your hair was this unmanageable then why did you grow it out?" she asked curiosity getting the best of her.

"I tried cutting it off, but it looks my hair is a lot more stubborn than I am. Let's leave it at that," Hiei grumbled annoyed. "Ohh, Hiei-san," Yukina sensed a story there but just settled for giggling and braiding his hair.

RaRa and Yuka-chan had burst out laughing remembering the story.

She took the tiny thread Hiei gave her and finished the job of managing his hair for him. Hiei gave her a look of complete appreciation for what she had done.

After that little incident they ate in silence for a while the only sound being the sound of the birds around them and RaRa's occasional purr. Yukina assumed that this training session was strictly between Hiei and the child as RaRa seemed rather content where she was. Yukina somehow found herself with the cat in her lap and she couldn't stop herself from stroking the warm golden fur which elicited the delighted sound from the cat.

And every time RaRa would purr Yuka would giggle and Hiei would roll his eyes. The cat would then roll her eyes back at him.

Soon the food was done and Hiei and Yuka got up to leave. Hiei turned to her looked her in the eyes and spoke up softly, "the food was delicious Yukina. Thank you."

Yuka smiled brightly at her and waved before they went off to train. Yukina then looked at the cat in her lap and murmured, "He really is feeling better right? I mean after yesterday he is bound to be exhausted and yet he seemed fine just now."

The cat chuckled lightly and said, "He is, Yukina. If he weren't then the child wouldn't allow him to get up this morning, trust me. Trust me, I've seen it happen. You really do care for your brother, don't you Yukina? I can hear it in your voice when you're talking about him. Don't bother trying to hide the fact about you knowing. I know you are a lot more intelligent than what you let on. Otherwise you would never manage to stay alive in the Human and Demon Worlds for ao long as you searched for him."

Yukina herself chuckled, "It is never easy to fool you is it, RaRa-san. But I'm glad you confronted me. I assume you'd want to know why I'd never forced my brother. I felt I couldn't after all the things my people had done to him as an infant. It's betterif I wait for him. I'll wait for the day he tells me the truth himself because then I can know that he no longer fears my rejection and would know that I'd accept him wholeheartedly no matter how he'd turned out."

"I admire that, Yukina. Hiei may never be able to tell you though," RaRa said gravely.

"Oh! He will. You don't see the change we have RaRa. Of course he'll tell me. But before that RaRa-san I'd like to know more about you and Yuka," Yukina said her voice turning from cheerful to dangerous in a second and the room started getting colder, " because this is the first time I'm seeing such a profound change in him. It's a good change but it is also change that makes him vulnerable. If this is a part of a plan to take him down, please know that the gang and I will never let that happen. If something did happen because of you two I would never hesitate in killing both of you even if one of you is a child who is sweeter than my Kazuma."

The room around slowly began freezing. Water and all the material things in the room froze.

The room had gone to sub-zero temperatures as Yukina continued to stroke her fur much to RaRa's bemusement. She had become genuinely afraid of the ice maiden for a few seconds before she regained her senses enough to chuckle. She then burst out laughing.

Yukina too laughed quietly for a second before she whispered, "I don't see any thing funny in being threatened RaRa-san. But I do hope that your laughter isn't aimed at me but at something else."

"I'm sorry! No! It isn't aimed at you Yukina-san. It's aimed at the situation. You see, I knew the idiot had a sister after a few days of meeting him. Don't worry, I'll tell you that story once everyone is awake, so that I won't have to repeat myself. Anyway, I expected Hiei's sister to be as ruthless as him. He never let me see any memories of you so I had no choice but to speculate. But yesterday after I saw you, I assumed the second that you were a typical caring sister who couldn't hurt a fly. Gentle and loving. But now I know how wrong I'd been in assuming that. You _are_ gentle and loving, but those are just parts of you that everyone knows. The shades you've shown me now tell me you can be just as ruthless as Mukuro was in her prime when it comes to your brother's safety and those shades only come out for him and a certain someone. And the best part of all this is that no one knows, you could get this protective, not even your brother. You really are his sister and Kito's daughter. And don't worry we are not here to hurt the brat. He's too precious to hurt. My clan had made a pact with your father's which bound us to them. Even if we weren't bound I wouldn't hurt him. The child adores him to a point she's started seeing him as a father figure for her. Do not worry, lady Yukina. Your brother wouldn't have brought us here if he didn't believe us considering the fact you live around the Human World," RaRa said with a truly genuine cat-like grin on her face that also said she respected the ice maiden for broaching the subject.

The room's temperature went back to normal gradually and Yukina murmured softly, "Please bear with me RaRa-san. Hiei is my only blood relative left. He is my twin above all. You should also know how we demons feel about losing their only family left."

"I do understand which is why I am not upset with you. I am happy to know about far you are willing to go to protect him though. The brat is extremely lucky to have you as his sister."

"That's where you are wrong RaRa-san. I am lucky to be his sister. My brother may have darkness in him but no matter how much it sinks him in, there will always be a light that would pull him back. We will always manage to pull him back. Our group would do anything to protect the other. Hiei and I are both extremely lucky to be a part of this group. We almost consider them family though my brother here would never admit that," she said smiling softly.

The room soon went quiet after that, knowing the other understands. Soon Kurama and Genkai came in to the kitchen to get breakfast when they saw the other two in it. Kurama merely raised an eyebrow and Genkai gave Yukina a knowing smile. But neither made a comment about it.

Keiko soon followed dressed in a blue long sleeved top and a skirt. She soon chided Yukina for not letting her help in cooking when they heard a loud crash. A crash that signified that Yusuke and Kazuma were awake. A few minutes later Yusuke came in with a triumphant smile. Kuwabara came in after a minute rubbing his forehead, but he smiled instantly after seeing Yukina. Yukina then looked at RaRa and smiled at her and nudged her out her lap onto the table and everyone soon gathered around the table to hear tale she'd promised the other day.

They'd all quieted down for a second waiting for the first question to come up and to get the food quickly into their systems.

They weren't surprised when Kurama threw the first one saying, "Why don't you tell us about how you met Hiei?"

"Why does this feel like an interrogation," she mused silently licking her paw. She then slowly walked over to Kurama and settled herself in his lap with a don't-you-dare look on her cat face.

"Let's see, when did I meet the idiot? Hmm…. I met him about seven months ago as soon as his growth spurt hit him; how did I know it hit him? For that I need to start at the very beginning. Do you have time? Ok. Since you all have the time in the world why don't you start petting me, Fox. I'd like to get comfortable now."

"Long time ago the strongest among the fire demons tribe saved our ancestor from a certain painful death. So those two ancestors decided that our clan would serve the members of their clan once they come to their peoples' age and protect them. You see when kids in that clan reach their growth spurt they lose their minds trying to control all the power that they gain in the process. So Hiei's ancestor knew there should be someone who would be able to control all that madness. As our clan also has high psychic power we decided to be of help. So that's how I managed to get to Hiei," she answered purring occasionally.

"Isn't that a form of slavery?" Kuwabara mused.

"No it isn't. Slaves are different, Human. Slaves function within a set of boundaries and are punished when they don't deliver or respect their 'masters' as the term would be. They have no sense of individuality. Whatever they do they do for their masters. We aren't like that. We still have our individuality. We don't have a set of boundaries to function in. We are just like you. We just protect these fire-demons out of our respect for their ancestor. We could also say no and they wouldn't force us to do it. I don't even have to do this considering the fact that the whole tribe is gone. I just do this to protect our pride. And don't you dare look down on me. I'm royalty in my clan."

"What do you mean the whole tribe is gone, RaRa?" Kurama asked rather curious about the whole thing.

"Oh. They are all scattered now. We can't track most of them down. As for the question why, they are scattered because the Leader of the tribe mated with a woman of a different tribe and died several years ago."

"Hey wait a minute here. You say your royalty. As far as I know about Demon World, royalty can serve only royalty. So you're saying Hiei's royalty?" Yusuke asked.

Kuwabara's eyes grew huge at that and everyone silently waited for her answer.

"He is," she answered quietly, "and you are not supposed to know about this. His father was the last leader of their clan who mated with the woman of the other clan. Ironically the woman herself was also royalty in her own clan. That mating was also the reason for the tribe to go down"

"What is his father's name RaRa? I think I might have met him before especially if he were the head of the tribe," Kurama asked distracted, as he tried to remember all the tribes and their leaders.

"Oh, I believe you would know. He did help you, after all. His name was Kito," RaRa said with knowing grin as Kurama's face went pale when he heard the name. Soon his shoulders shook. Everyone in the group tensed when they saw Kurama's reaction but a second later they were shocked to see him laugh out loud. His laughter reminding them of one of Yusuke's own raucous laughter. The rich deep tenor of his laughter alluring everyone.

Hey man .. are you okk?" Yusuke asked slowly moving towards him.

Kurama did not bother answering him though; he instead turned his attention to RaRa and asked, "Does _he_ know?"

"Uh huh," the cat replies. The answer however made him laugh all the harder and mutter "I should've known" over and over.

"At least share the joke, Kurama," Kuwabara whined.

He soon felt everyone get rather frustrated with the laughter, so he tried sobering up. After several minutes he did. "Sorry," he said smiling sheepishly.

"So can you now tell us what was so funny," Yusuke griped.

"You see Yusuke," he began, "one night after heist I was wandering around in the forest when I felt someone following me. Turned out to be a guard at the place I stole. He was low class demon and I didn't pay him any mind. That was my mistake though; he released a dart at me dipped in an extremely strong anesthetic. I realized instantly and took off in a run but I could feel it's effects soon. My vision blurred and all I could remember was the guard getting closer and then an extremely powerful energy signature coming my way and I'd passed out. When I came to, I was sleeping in a rather luxurious bed with an extremely powerful guy sleeping in a chair on the opposite side of the side of the bed. I tried to be quiet while trying to escape but….

#$^&&^%$#

In another part of Genkai's territory, Yukari was panting heavily after fighting so hard. She saw Hiei with a casual smirk on his face.

"Tired already, child?" he asked keeping his distance from her. He sensed RaRa divulging a lot of unnecessary information but he decided to let it go.

The child gritted her and attacked with all the strength she could muster, all the strength that would be enough to hurt him badly but not kill him. He sighed as he dodged her attack by blurring away. She followed him and tried punching him when black dots began to dance in her eyes. And she collapsed mid-attack.

He sighed quietly picking her up gently and setting her on his back. All the stress from the past several days was getting to her. He thought about how she attacked and repressed another sigh. She didn't like to kill. She never even liked to fight- the only reason for the training was that no one would surprise her enough to capture her. She was stronger than he was at present and yet she never liked to hurt anyone. That was one of the most fascinating things about her among other things.

He'd better head back before they start grilling RaRa for information on the child. They couldn't know, not yet.

With these thoughts Hiei started back to Genkai's all the while keeping tabs on the cat's thoughts.

#$^&&^%$#

"_Where do you think, you're going?" the guy had asked._

"_Out?" I replied suddenly lost at the situation in hand._

"_You are not going anywhere, Youko Kurama. You are staying here until you're completely healed," he answered._

_I being one who didn't care authority had asked, "Who do you think you are to stop me from choosing?"_

"_Now now that's not a way to treat a friend who helped you out sticky situation is it," chiding slightly. _

"_Fine. Thank you. What do you want me to do, hmmm?"Kurama'd asked._

"_Well be my guest my lovely friend what else would I want of course" he'd answered rather cheerfully and continued more seriously than before, "stay here with my clan until you are completely healed. My healer told me the poison you were effected with was a nasty one. It would take days to heal properly from that."_

After that the guy turned out to be complete dork. I stayed there for a while observing the clan. They were all rather suspicious of me. But Kito was pretty damn friendly. I was just imagining how in the world for the love of all things shiny did Hiei turn out to be Kito's son. I mean their personalities are as far as the day and night. It was just funny imagining him as Kito's son. That's all."

"So you're saying the Shrimp's dad was a complete dork," Kuwabara repeated.

"Ohh, don't be under that assumption Kazuma. He is far more intelligent than anyone I ever met. He could maneuver his way around the clan politics with his eyes closed. It's extremely difficult to mange a group of old senile elders. Yomi is the only one I know of who can do that. And don't get me started on how powerful he was. He was younger than I was by nearly four hundred years but he'd already reached S-class level. I had the honor of watching him fight. He'd never really fought seriously before I' heard. But he had to when a group of particularly nasty bandits attacked the tribe. His power level Yusuke was higher than the current Yomi's. Now that I think about it it's highly possible for Hiei to be his son. After all our Hiei managed to gain an upper A-class level energy at just five years of age."

They all sat quietly absorbing the news.

"What about the child?" Yusuke asked, "We understand who you are and about Hiei's tribe a little more but we don't know who the child is. I don't think I even know what type of a demon she is either."

"That's a valid question. The child is … the child was born in a slave trade organization in the Demon World. She escaped. They followed her with the intention of killing her and Hiei played the Hero and saved her from death. This was about 3 months ago," RaRa answered vaguely.

"Forgive me saying this but there are huge gaps in your story. Hiei's completely apathetic to his surroundings. He wouldn't bother 'playing Hero' as you mentioned," Kurama said quietly.

The cat's head turned into his direction. There was something in that gaze that said 'drop it'. The gaze held a dangerous power. The gaze soon made his mind race thinking about all the reasons why his short friend had saved her. _Why had Hiei saved her? _He thought.

"Come on! You answered truthfully until now. Why not this too," Yusuke demanded.

_Yeah why not answer us now, _he thought in unison with Yusuke's words.

RaRa leapt away from Kurama's lap and said in an extremely dangerous tone, "There are reasons why I'm not telling you. I have been in Hiei's mind before and I know all kinds of dirt laundry on him. I'd tell you all those stories in a heart-beat but not this. T There is enough on our plates. We don't need Spirit World on our-"

"That's enough RaRa. You told them enough," Hiei had suddenly appeared out of no where with his sword strapped across his back and the child sleeping peacefully there.

"You're forgetting who Kurama is. He'll figure it out if you say anything more about this."

"But Shrimp, we can't just-" Kuwabara began only to have an extremely cold malicious glare to be sent his way.

"You can and you will," he said in a low voice, "I can't hide this forever Oaf. We are safe here for the moment. I want nothing more than for the child to enjoy this peace while it lasts. It will last as long as no one knows about who she is or where. The last couple of months have been hard on her. I want to keep our stay here as peaceful as possible. For that you don't need to know the whole story. You already know what RaRa told you. There is no need to know more. Not for now at least."

"But Hiei, we can tell there are demons after you what if they attack here? We wouldn't be able to protect-" Yusuke's heated speech got cut-off by Keiko who nudged him and pointed at the child.

"Look at him Yusuke. Hiei would never deliberately put us in danger. The only reason he came here was to provide some form of safety for the child. Is it so wrong to ask for that small comfort?" Keiko asked wisely. Everyone's attention turned to him. But Hiei remained oblivious to it.

He just sat there with the child's head in his lap, his fingers running through her hair. He appeared to be lost in a rather violent memory when RaRa snapped him out of it saying, "You've been keeping tabs on me. You knew exactly when to come and interfere with their questions."

"I did keep tabs on you. I would've stayed away too. She fell asleep-mid-attack mind you- and there was nothing more for me to do. I just felt how distressed you were getting and decided to help out. That's all there is to it."

Yusuke saw the spark of happiness in Hiei's eyes when he spoke of her. _Is it so wrong to ask for that small comfort?_ Keiko's words echoed in his head. And he decided not to bother Hiei with questions anymore. It seemed as if everyone else reached the same conclusion. That was they also noticed that Hiei had changed too. He was answering their questions rather disappearing. He wasn't growling at them either. Hiei had mellowed out just like they all did. But Yusuke assumed the majority of it had to do with the child.

"How long do you think you're safe here for Hiei?" Kurama asked cautiously.

"I'd like to be optimistic and say another six months. But we may have half the time. We've laid many false trails all over demon world before coming here. So maybe another 3 months at the least."

"What do you plan to do after that?" Yukina asked.

"I'll be at full strength then. I'd most likely leave her with Mukuro and go kill the person behind this. But we never know what might happen," he sounded lost at the after saying the lat part which was rather uncharacteristic for him.

"Everything's going to be ok Hiei, we'll help with her protection. So don't worry so much," Keiko said gently.

"Yes. You can stay here with these two as long as you want to," Genkai said with a rather soft tone to her voice.

"Hn," was his reply, before he became lost in his thoughts.

"Hiei, why is it taking so long for your energy to return?" Kurama asked. And he instantly wanted to take those words back for Hiei's expression darkened considerably and caused the entire room's temperature to drop and his form was shook with suppressed rage.

He never answered the question as RaRa nipped Hiei's finger to snap him out of the rage and he growled at her.

"Don't you dare growl at me, Hiei," she said dangerously, "I needed you to calm down before you lost control. I don't think anyone here can survive you losing control. It cost Mukuro nearly all her strength to survive. _These _people won't survive it."

"Now will you answer the question or should I?" she said calmly, "We can't keep them out of everything Hiei. You better accept that. The sooner the better for everyone."

Hiei simply stood up with the child and disappeared. "Idiot," she muttered.

_Maybe he hadn't changed that much_, Yusuke thought amused at his friend's disappearance.

She then turned to everyone present in the room everyone who looked shocked to see _Hiei_ lose control. Control was what he was known for, otherwise he wouldn't have survived holding the Dragon of the Darkness Flame.

"The reason Hiei hasn't gained his energy back completely is because the Jagan has decided to hinder him. Though it's intentions are good it's still a sore spot for him"

"Why is the Jagan doing that? I noticed some weird power when Hiei collapsed yesterday. I didn't know what to make of it though," Kuwabara said thoughtfully.

"There is a legend in the Demon World that when the wielder of the Jagan and the Jagan have an abnormally high compatibility the Jagan can docertain things that benefit it's wielder-"

"How can it be benefit to Hiei when he doesn't have his full strength-" Yusuke cut her off and got cut off instantly by RaRa again.

"I'm getting to that Yusuke. If you interrupt me again, I'll make sure your death is a lot more painful than even Hiei can make. There are some things that can only be detected sensitive beings like the Jagan. The Jagan as per the legend can see parts of definitive and subjective visions of the future"-all the eyes in the room widened, even Genkai started paying attention to the conversation- "and Hiei's Jagan just decided to show that the legend is true. What you saw yesterday was a vision that the Jagan decided to show Hiei. These visions are strenuous to the user. The first time it happened I was in his head and I saw the visions. They were vivid. He had lost all sense of time for a second. He truly believed that all the horrific things in the vision were happening right then. He _had_ to destroy the threat so he let the Dragon out to destroy everything. Thankfully the Dragon knew of the vision and simply floated around for a while before disappearing. He was upset Yusuke and there are not many things that make him lose control like that."

"You can understand why that may be a sore spot for him. Above all it causes him migraines that last for days on end. Hiei doesn't have any control over the Eye right now. The Eye shows him things that are extremely important for him to know and possible ways to get out of trouble. But Hiei himself isn't in control of that. If Hiei makes a bad choice that causes a bad outcome the Jagan almost instantly punishes him. Yesterday, though the Jagan seemed rather happy with Hiei's decision of coming here."

"So you're saying the Shrimp can now see the Future," Kuwabara asked.

"Yes and no. The Jagan decides. He doesn't. It's taxing him a lot. He can't do it voluntarily and he won't do it either," she said quietly.

"That's explains why Hiei saved the child," Kurama said and RaRa's eyes widened, "did you really think I wouldn't figure it out? The Jagan forced him to save her, didn't it RaRa?"

"Yes, but the child grew on him. Hiei now cares for the child so much that she's become his reason to live. You have to understand, maybe he was forced at the beginning but now it's all about her. I've seen what it does to him to see her injured and it isn't a pretty sight. Mukuro and I don't want that to happen again. So we forced him to come here," RaRa said rather desperately pawing the tatami floor.

"We believe ya, you know. So stop looking all that dejected now. Everything's gonna be okay as long as Yusuke Urameshi is here to save the day," Yusuke said as if he'd been meaning to say that for a while and all the others though they never said anything agreed with him.

"I hope so, Yusuke, I hope so," the cat said.

They then watched as Kurama stood up and said, "I'll go bring him back."

He then disappeared just like Hiei did.

**Next chapter: an extremely important conversation between Hiei and Kurama. The other half is going to be from the PoV of our youngest member. Yep you guessed it right. It's gonna be Yuka-chan next. **

**Okk everyone get me some reviews and it'll make my day. **

**See you soon…..**


	4. Chapter 4

**I'm extremely sorry for all the grammatical and spelling errors in the last chapter, I really was in a hurry to post that one as soon as possible. I had exams. I wanted to write and I couldn't because of those damned exams. Why do we need exams anyway?!**

**I think I'll stop my rant there, because I'm pretty sure you're rolling your eyes at me. Also I heard that some of you think Hiei is a little OOC. But I made him a little bit more mature than the Hiei in the series. But that's just in the situations with Yuka-chan. If you have any more concerns just PM me and I'll try to explain them. **

**Happy reading.**

Hiei was sitting on a tree with one of his legs bent up at the knee, his eyes closed. He'd deposited the child in their room back at the Old Hag's so that he could get some much needed alone time. It'd been awhile since he'd had demons chase after him. Eighty years to be exact and it wasn't a pleasant experience. If it'd been just him, those idiotic demons who'd dared attack him would have been long dead by now. But that was just it, he wasn't alone and they weren't after him.

He had a child to care of. _A child_, he snorted. If someone told him that a child would have him around her little finger, he would have laughed at their faces and killed them instantly. But now... _Yukari_, he thought as he'd sensed a familiar energy signature approach him.

He opened his eyes as Kurama came into view. Hiei knew Kurama would come. He'd been waiting for him in that particular clearing. He wanted to walk away from his ally. But knew he couldn't as his long time ally would hunt him down for the conversation they were bound to have. That didn't mean he was ready, though.

He watched Kurama enter the clearing with his usual grace. His eyes calmly looking at the tree Hiei sat on taking in his posture and searching for emotions in Hiei's eyes. But he knew he wouldn't find them. Hiei's face was a blank mask that was to sure make the Fox proud. After all Kurama wore that mask with a smile on a daily basis, with the exception of the time he spent with the gang. He jumped down to join him.

"Been a while, old friend," Kurama said, slowly stepping up to the tree his 'old friend ' sat on.

"You've spent too much time among the Humans, Kurama. Seven months isn't a long time for a demon. _You _should know that," Hiei had answered rather dully and Kurama was quick to note that it didn't contain any of it's usual bite to it. It just contained one thing: exhaustion.

"If I didn't know any better Hiei, I'd think you were sulking. _Stalling_," Kurama stated genially.

The red-eyed male stiffened at that. "Seriously, Hiei I never thought that I'd see the day. The day you're willing to put down everything just to save a child, although the child herself is rather special," Kurama said and continued watching the said red-eyed male as he dropped the bomb on him, "I know about the child, Hiei."

The statement hung in the air for several seconds as the air around them tensed. Hiei's expression turned blank, if it was even possible. His hand itching for his sword. Kurama noticed that and waited for Hiei to start talking. He wasn't disappointed as Hiei did after a couple of minutes.

"What do you intend to do with the information, Fox? Tell the Spirit World! The second you do that I'll destroy every corner of Spirit World. I'm not joking about this. I may have halfheartedly in the past but not now. If anything does happen to the child, I'll destroy everything and everyone," Hiei said his tone dark and filled with enough venom to let the fox know he would follow through with the threat and that he himself was treading on dangerous ground.

Kurama lifted his hands up in surrender when Hiei looked over at him and said, "I know you will Hiei. Although I am rather curious about what you intend to do with her. You and I both know what having someone, especially a child of _that _group means. I need to know your intentions. After that I'll decide whether to inform the spirit world or not. Because from what I understand Hiei you don't do things half-way. And you never do things without a reason. Tell me what's making you want to protect the child. Don't bother saying the Jagan is making you. You may have been weak when you found her but that was then. Now you have enough energy to force the Jagan back into submission. I _know_ you do."

"Is it so wrong to wish for safety, Kurama? I see Yukina in her. Her love for peace and non-violence. Isn't that enough reason to protect her?" he questioned.

Kurama watched Hiei's expression the entire time he answered. He was surprised that Hiei hadn't lost his temper. Yet.

"When it comes to you, no. What did the Jagan show you Hiei? _I_ think it's the vision that makes you want to protect her. An image horrific enough to make you want to protect the life of a child. So tell me what did you see?" Kurama asked. He saw Hiei's expression darken and the temperature around them raise significantly. He waited patiently for Hiei to answer.

The wind picked up around them giving them some reprieve from the heat Hiei had engulfed them in.

Hiei, however finding it hard to gain control again. Kurama had hit the nail in the head with his words earlier and he wasn't ready to talk. He would never be able to talk to about that. But it appeared to him now, that he had to. Otherwise the Fox would take the child away. Not that he would go down without a fight. But he had grown weary after all the chasing. It was never a pleasant experience to fight after being chased. He had to answer now. That way he'd know at least one of the gang knew the truth. So he ignored his instincts screaming at him to either kill the fox or walk away. For once in his life Hiei really wanted to run away. But he knew he couldn't.

Kurama waited patiently for he knew the internal struggle that was presently at work within his friend. He wasn't sure he'd get his answers from his once short friend. So he was surprised when Hiei started speaking.

"The child has been through a lot, Kurama. You were right. I…..

! #$%%$# !

I woke up to find myself alone- something I never enjoyed. I was still tired and hungry. Being with Hiei-sama and Mukuro-sama for the past 3 months got me spoiled I guess. I was rarely starving these days. I slowly opened my eyes and scanned my surroundings just like Hiei-sama did every time he'd wake up. The last several months were extremely terrifying. Why were they after me? That was one question Hiei-sama would never answer. It felt like everyone knew and not one person would say anything to me. I didn't like it at all especially because it was something about me.

I shook myself of these depressing thoughts. It did no good anyway. Hiei-sama would never let any harm come to me and I was sure as hell not going to let anything happen to Hiei-sama.

I looked around and found out that this was the same room I was in yesterday. I was in the Human-World and this surprised me because I never thought that I would be here in the first place. I looked around and found RaRa wasn't with me either but I could feel that she was somewhere close. Probably in the room that Hiei-sama took me yesterday. Closing my eyes I realized that there were others there as well. The same people I had seen yesterday. I'd cried yesterday, something which was rare. I did it in front of unknown people which was even rarer. I didn't even know anyone in there aside from Yukina-san and Keiko-san.

Yukina-san and Keiko-san. They were both extremely kind people. They listened to me cry full-on for fifteen minutes and never punished me. They came to me and wrapped their arms around me, cooing at me. For some odd reason that made me cry even more. I felt safe with them something that was impossible because Hiei-sama was the only one who made me feel like that. They made me feel like a child. I hated that because I wasn't supposed to cry and was certainly not supposed to be cooed at. I was ten; an age where you would be considered an adult in the Demon-World. So I tried pushing them off but they didn't let go. They just held on tighter.

I thought I would be embarrassed to see Yukina-san that morning but no. things had gone rather well. Yukina-san was extremely kind to cook us something before they headed out to train. Every time I'd see her I'd be reminded of Hiei-sama. But that would be just plain weird if they weren't related. And I was too tired to think of why.

Next was Keiko-san. She was extremely beautiful-for a human that is. She was the first person to talk to me yesterday. Her voice was slightly high-pitched and it would mostly likely hurt my ears if I ever heard her screech. But she was nice. Nice like Yukina-san. I had a strange feeling- a strange warmth- whenever I saw them. Every time I saw them my brain would be working over-time to catch up. Especially this morning when Yukina-san nuzzled my nose with hers. I blushed and that was something Hiei-sama teased me about the whole day. Not the whole day considering the fact I couldn't sense Hiei-sama anymore. He was so far away that I doubt anyone would be able to feel his energy signal. I was getting worried- which Hiei-sama didn't like at all. I could feel myself tensing at the mere thought of Hiei-sama being away.

So feeling a new found determination I went to find RaRa.

Finding my way around the temple wasn't all that difficult as I could feel RaRa's energy signal like a beacon of light. When I reached though, I found that the some of the boys from yesterday and Yukina-san and Keiko-san were present. RaRa was sleeping in Yukina-san's lap looking extremely comfortable there. Once again it felt strange because RaRa was only that comfortable with Hiei-sama.

"Hey there, Kid! Are you just gonna stand there or come inside?" I heard the guy with

the slicked black hair ask.

"I.. uh...," I stuttered. Thank god Hiei-sama was absent.

"Don't worry, kiddo. We don't bite, but I'm not so sure about Urameshi here though," the guy with the orange hair said elbowing the black haired male.

"Hey don't give the kid any ideas Kuwabara. She's Hiei's kid and judging by his behavior around her I'm pretty sure he'd skin me alive if I did something. I'm very particular about my life you. After dying twice," the guy said. _He died twice?!_ I thought. Soon their voices grew louder and I tuned them out.

I stood there listening to them argue but it was completely harmless and there was no real hostility. So I slowly made my way to where RaRa slept. I watched her and concluded immediately that Hiei-sama himself should be extremely sleepy and asked-my voice cutting through the banter between," um... where is Hiei-sama? Is he okay? I can't sense him."

"The shrimp is fine, Yuka-chan. He's with Kurama, the red-haired guy from yesterday? He went to get Hiei this afternoon but they've been gone for hours now. Don't worry. He'll be fine. The worst that could happen to him with Kurama are a few injuries- superficial ones. Don't worry now. Anyways we haven't been formally introduced yet. Now why don't we get that out of the way. I am Kazuma Kuwabara, the fighter of Love," the orange haired man introduced himself with the self-bravado (I had to stifle my laughter at that one) and he continued saying, " and this is Yusuke Urameshi, the punk."

"Hey, watch your mouth, dumbass. I'm not a punk," the newly introduced Yusuke said and I had to roll my eyes at this behavior.

"I am Yukari, but please call me Yuka. How long has it been since Hiei-sama went out?"

"They've been out since morning. Don't worry so much Yuka-chan, Hiei-san wouldn't like that. Now it's time to start preparing dinner. Why don't we go and see what to do about dinner? It is always fun to cook in groups although cooking in general is very entertaining. Why don't you come join us now, Yuka-chan!" Yukina-san said getting up from the floor and placing a still sleeping RaRa onto the cushion

"That's right Yuka-chan. By the time we get the food prepared I'm sure Hiei and Kurama would be back. And besides I don't want you sitting with these two. God forbid, they'll get you fluent in swear-speech in an hour. Let's go and cook something delicious for ourselves and something bland for these two," she said winking mischievously at Yukina-san and I.

This soon started an all-round whining session from Yusuke-san and Kuwabara-san. Yukina-san giggled softly possibly with how adorable those two boys looked as they nearly begged for tasty food but were too lazy to prepare it for themselves.

I noticed that Yusuke-san's energy was tightly controlled just as Hiei-sama's and Mukuro-sama's was. That could only mean that he was an S-Class demon. His energy was a strange combination demonic and human both. However the human's energy was that of an A-Class demon's. I soon turned my attention to Yukina-san and Keiko-san.

I noticed that whenever Yukina-san talked to me I would feel like a child all over again. Just the way I would with Hiei-sama around. There was that warm feeling again._ What is this feeling?_ I thought completely frustrated with myself.

The others stopped their banter as I stood up mutely and nodded. They both led me to the kitchen where there was a marble counter-top. Mukuro-sama's kitchen staff had told me of this when I'd wandered there sometime ago. These things were supposed to be costly so I asked masking several questions in one, "Yukina-san, um.. where are we exactly in the Human-World? Who owns this place?"

Keiko-san turned to look at me with a slightly puzzled look on her face. "Yuka-chan -"

"We are all staying at Master Genkai's temple, Yuka-chan. She was a rather powerful psychic during her time. You are right in asking because there aren't many humans who know of our existence. As per where we are in the Human-World, we are in the country of Japan," Yukina-san answered with look that said she understood all my doubts.

She however continued saying, "Master Genkai is the old woman you saw yesterday. She had to visit an old friend today. So she will be unavailable for a few days. Don't worry though, this place is extremely well protected. There are several traps in the area. Only our closest friends and Master Genkai's students are capable of avoiding the traps."

Yukina-san had moved over to the counter-top and was washing the vegetables and the meat by the time she'd finished talking.

"Besides stop being an adult and start acting your age. You have Hiei-san to look after you now," she said smiling at her in a way that said _'I know what you're doing and I want you to stop'._

"What are you talking about, Yukina?" Keiko-san asked frowning at Yukina-san's words.

"Demon-World and Human-World are same in what I'm about to tell you Keiko. Children who don't have adults to take care of them end up the same way. They tend to grow up quickly and start making adult decisions. Although the dangers in the Human-World are very mild when compared to the Demon-World's. And since Hiei-san is out and Rara is asleep Yuka-chan believes she has to make the right decisions on behalf of all three of them," she said gently easing Keiko-san into horrors one might face and yet keeping her in the dark by being vague about said horrors.

"Oh..."

"Let me tell you something Yuka-chan, this is not Demon-World and you are not in any immediate danger, so please don't be so tensed. It doesn't suit your adorably cute face, " Keiko-san said almost kneeling to look into my eyes.

I blush again. What is this feeling? Why do I feel like this whenever they try and take care of me? I can't seem to find any answers, so I resign myself to following Yukina-san's and Keiko-san's instructions. This cooking thing was really fun and calming, maybe I should teach Hiei-sama after I learn this to perfection.

That will help Hiei-sama out of his violent moods sometimes. He has such dangerous mood-swings sometimes that they left me scared at first. There was a time when I thought that rage was something one person took out on another. The way my captors did. There was also a time that I thought Hiei-sama would do the same. But he never would. He never had in the past and would never do in the future.

Somewhere in the back of my mind I registered Hiei-sama's energy nearing the temple. It seemed I wasn't the only one who'd noticed as Yukina-san's next words were, " let's finish cooking Yuka-chan. It will only take another half-hour. Besides I think you should give him some time to clean up. Whenever Hiei-san and Kurama take this much time it will mean they will both be a little bloodied and dirty. So don't you think they should take some time to change? Besides if you stay here and help us cook, I'm pretty sure we can get the food on the table and feed those men. Especially considering how hungry Hiei-san and Kurama can get after a fight."

"Not that they don't eat enough as it is," Keiko-san said winking at me.

I nodded and started helping out again. Soon I felt Hiei-sama and another person's- Kurama, she hoped-energy signal. Suddenly I felt Hiei-sama's energy and I knew immediately that something was wrong. Hiei-sama seemed to be in one of his moods. This wasn't something that I thought would happen with his friends around._ But it did... _I thought suddenly sad, weak.

The others in the room also seemed to notice but they said nothing letting me know it was okay to talk if I wanted to. I chose not to. Soon our job in the kitchen was over and we got the food into the living room. That was when I saw him. Hiei-sama seemed tired and in one hell of a mood. His hair was now out of the braid Yukina-san made that morning. His eyes cold hard rubies and his mouth set into a vicious snarl. The very air around him crackled with an unknown tension I had sometimes seen in him. Yusuke-san and Kuwabara-san both seemed to be keeping a wary eye on Hiei-sama for reasons I didn't understand. Perhaps they were just scared he'd start attacking. He'd never do that though. Kurama-san seemed to be lost in thought. I could see they'd sparred but they didn't have a scratch at the moment which only meant Hiei-sama had healed them both. Hiei-sama was now sitting there with RaRa on his lap and was stroking her fur- which I knew was just a way to keep him hands busy.

Hiei-sama took one glance at me and was there in front of me the next. He took the things I was holding and placed them on the table. All the people in the room seemed to be looking at us. Soon Yukin-san and Keiko-san started piling up our plates.

Yukina-san and Keiko-san handed the plates to everyone and we began to eat. All through the dinner even though there was laughter and banter, there seemed to be an undercurrent of tension in the room. RaRa was still asleep and wouldn't wake up any time soon for at least another day. I had a feeling though once Hiei-sama fell asleep tonight, he'd probably join RaRa in the little sleep fest. I was sure of that. It was something that happened the last time he was in this mood. He slept for 2 whole days, not even waking up for food.

Mukuro-sama kept me company those two days. It was during that time I bonded with Mukuro-sama. It was then that I learned not to judge someone by their appearance. I was scared of her from the very second I met her. But now she tells me that I was the only person to ever wrap her around my little finger. I got anything and everything I wanted from her. She could never say no to me. But I never wanted anything more than peace. She was capable of giving that to me so she gave me that among other things-like a place to stay.

The dinner was over soon and I noticed the strange looks of the others but I ignored it. "So, Hiei-sama lets get some rest, ne? You look like you could use some decent sleep," I said forcing some cheekiness into my voice. But just like always he saw through my efforts to lighten up his mood and smiled. There was a strained edge to that smile unlike the usual ones he gives me and I notice that everyone else took note of that too as the conversation around us ceased.

"Yes, sleeps sounds good. Let's get you and RaRa in a room and I'll take the one next to yours," he said getting up from his place at the table.

He turned to Kurama and they communicated silently for a second. He then turned away, picked RaRa up and gestured for me to walk out. He followed me to the end of the hall, to the room where I slept the entire day.

He stepped in front of me and knelt down. He gently took the finger I unknowingly cut and healed it away. There was no sting in it anymore.

"You should be more careful Kari. This time it was a small one. The next might be something I may not be able to heal. So promise me you'll take better care of yourself," he said looking at me just as tenderly as he would every other time. Hiei-sama was the closest thing I had to a guardian- to a father figure really. He was always making sure his emotions never overwhelmed me-even now. He was truly a good person but he seems to think otherwise for whatever reason I didn't know or care to believe. All the good things in my life happened after meeting him. So I hold an extremely precious bond with him and RaRa.

"Okay. I promise I'll take better care of myself. I'm sorry for worrying you, though," I said quietly wrapping my arms around his neck. There was a time when Hiei-sama would have stiffened at the contact but now he would simply wrap his arms around me, however loosely they might have been. He pulled away and placed RaRa in my arms. He nudged me to go in. I smiled brightly for him and went in holding RaRa close to my chest. "Good night, Hiei-sama," I whispered softly knowing my voice would carry over. I heard him walk into the next room and lie down. All I heard for the next few moments was the ragged breathing. After a while though the breathing evened out like I knew it would. I curled into RaRa fell asleep as a few tears escaped my eyes.

! #$%$# !

The room seemed quiet after Hiei left. Everyone around Kurama slowly walked out and retired for the night. Everyone except Yusuke and Kuwabara. Kurama watched as Yusuke nudged Kuwabara out with a look on his face which said leave him to me. Kuwabara walked out glancing at them worriedly.

Kurama stayed silent and much to his surprise Yusuke seemed to be just as silent as he was. It was clear to him that Yusuke was patiently waiting for Kurama to talk but Kurama didn't know where to begin.

"So... wanna tell me what's got you thinking like this, Foxboy? Or better yet what did you both say to each other that's got you both acting like somber old men," Yusuke began after a while.

"That's it Yusuke, I don't know where to begin," Kurama sighed tiredly.

"There is a lot wrong with this world we're living in. It was bad enough for Hiei to grow up like he did but now..." Kurama trailed off his mood somber.

"What's wrong, Kurama?" Yusuke asked worried, "Did something happen? Did they find out about them living here-"

"No. That's not it, Yusuke. They might find out in the future but that's not it right now," Kurama said cutting Yusuke off.

"Just spit it out, Fox," Yusuke growled growing impatient with is red haired friend. Kurama had been lost in thoughts from the moment they came in. And Hiei! He was another story entirely. It almost felt as if the fire which could never burn him was burning him to ashes. He'd known Hiei for a long time but this was the first time he'd seen him tormented. Although that was covered up quite well with a hostile aura he placed around himself.

The moment the two MIA men returned that evening Yusuke knew something bad had happened. The way they were bloodied and torn told him that this was not a normal spar. This- this was more like letting all the pent up aggression out. He knew that with one look at them. He sensed that Kuwabara knew it too as he stayed quiet and didn't egg Hiei on to a verbal spat. They went off their own way to clean up and they didn't seem any better when they returned.

"Is this about the child?" Yusuke asked quietly.

Kurama's head snapped up to look at him. Just by that reaction Yusuke knew he hit the nail straight on the head. Kurama seemed all the more tired and upset. So he just decide to spare him the misery and ask all the questions.

"This is about Yuka-chan then. I should have known from the beginning. So Kurama tell me more about our dear Yuka-chan. What kind of a demon is she? Where did Hiei find her? You know these answers right and I wanna know them too," Yusuke said.

Kurama's face went blank and he answered in an extremely blank tone, "As a matter of fact, Yusuke I do . But I'm not going to tell you. Hiei doesn't want any one to know and for once I agree with him. It is for the better if I kept this a secret. The reasons for that are also confidential. Don't give me that look Yusuke. I know you hate to being out of the loop, but it is necessary that no one knows. Not that we don't trust you but the situation is extremely delicate. The child's safety is at risk. And let me tell you one thing Yusuke, Hiei is extremely particular about Yuka-chan's safety and her happiness. Anything happens to her and I assure you it will destroy our friend completely," Kurama said.

"The child is special, Yusuke. She has gone through a lot in her short life," Kurama added softly.

"It's kind of hard to miss that, Kurama," Yusuke replied and added, "The way she is always on alert gives it away. I see myself in her sometimes."

"Trust me Yusuke, Hiei sees himself lot more in her than you do."

"He's doing a good job taking care of her. I never would have expected but... he does.

I never had a healthy childhood what with Atsuko as my mom. She was never around and I didn't have a father figure in my life like Kuwabara does. Someone who could give me some kind of stability. I'm pretty _he_ didn't have any kind of stabilty growing up either. But looking at the present I know Hiei's doing good job by giving her that stability I once needed. It's actually nice to watch her trailing behind him calling him 'Hiei-sama'," Yusuke said chuckling and rubbing the back of his neck.

Kurama too chuckled at that. " She is truly an amazing child Yusuke. And I agree about Hiei being good for her. He seems to act a lot more mature around her. However get him alone and he's the same as he always was."

Yusuke nodded. "Yeah, I noticed. And he's covering up everything to smile for her. But I don't think she buys it. She also seems to try and make him happy as he seems to do for her. It's nice to watch Hiei smile genuinely for once instead of the derisive smirk we always manage to get out of him. Anyway I'll keep quiet about everything for now. But don't expect me to in the future. I'm doing this just because I trust you and that Shrimp far too much. Anyway see ya tomorrow. G'night Fox"

With that Yusuke left leaving Kurama to his thoughts-morbid thoughts. He sighed into the empty room and decided he should get some sleep as well. After all he'd had an extremely long day. All those stories and that sparring match with Hiei had drained him. But the moment he closed his eyes in his room he knew that Hiei should be feeling a lot exhausted than he did. With these thoughts he fell asleep not knowing that a dark shadow was heading for the Human-World. A shadow which would wreck havoc on all their lives.

**That's it for now folks.**

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